Alexander Girard - Architect, Designer, Collector

Alexander Girard was born in New York in 1907, but grew up in Italy and remained in Europe throughout his youth. He studied at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, after which he returned to America hoping to set up a successful practice. However, work was slow and he abandoned architecture in favour of design. His first big commission was to design the Detroit Institute of Arts' For Modern Living exhibition, which included the first public display of Charles and Ray Eames's plywood chairs.

In 1952, Girard joined Herman Miller and became the Textile design director for more than 20 years, working closely with Charles and Ray Eames. During this time he also worked on a number of solo projects including the design for La Fonda de Sol restaurant in New York and Braniff Airlines.

Alexander Girard and his wife Susan were also avid collectors of Folk Art and gifted 106,000 objects to the International Museum of Folk Art in New Mexico.

When Girard joined Herman Miller in 1952 and was made design director of the textiles division, his first priority was to inject colour into the product range. Inspired by folk art, Girard steered away from realistic design and instead focused on geometric pattern and bold colour block, often reproducing the same motif in several colourways. His playful eye added a fun element to the stark and often intellectualised furniture that Herman Miller produced.

In 1961, La Fonda Del Sol restaurant opened in the Time-Life building in New York. It cost $3 million to create and everything was designed by Alexander Girard from the ashtrays to the taco holders. The theme was Latin American and Girard's love of folk art dominated the interior, centering around the logo of a large sun. The furniture was upholstered in bright pinks, oranges and blues with tableware to complement.

Unfortunately, we can only imagine this riot of colour today as the restaurant closed in 1971. However, collector's pieces still circulate the auctions from time to time and Maximo Design (see link below) occasionally reproduce items from the original design.

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The 1965 refit of Braniff International Airways was another demonstration of Girard's all-encompassing and innovative creative approach. In just over 6 months, Girard implemented 17543 design changes which transformed the entire Braniff brand from the fuselages right down to the sugar packages. In addition to using 7 signature colours, Girard also outfitted the interiors with 57 different variations of Herman Miller fabrics.

Alexander Girard and his wife Susan collected a huge amount of folk art during their lifetime. In 1939, they took a belated honeymoon to Mexico and came back with a carful of souvenirs. This started a collection that evolved into the Girard Foundation in 1960, which was set up in order to acquire, preserve and exhibit the toys that they had amassed during their travels.

In 1978 they donated the entire catalogue to the Museum of International Folk Art. It took two years to unpack and arrange the exhibit, but the Girard Wing finally opened in 1982. Multiple Visions: A Common Bond displays approximately 10% of the collection. It includes toys and dolls, costumes, masks, textiles of all kinds, religious folk art as well as paintings, beadwork, and more.

Toys represent a microcosm of man's world and dreams.
They exhibit fantasy, imagination, humor and love.
They are an invaluable record and expression of mans ingenious unsophisticated imagination.
-Alexander Girard